Few female jazz singers matched the hard-swinging and equally hard-living Anita O'Day for sheer exuberance and talent in all areas of jazz vocals. Her improvising, wide dynamic tone, and innate sense of rhythm made her more than just another big-band canary. At a time when most female vocals tended to emphasize the sweet timbres of their voice, she chose to emphasize a path blazed by the one major jazz singer who emphasized message over medium - Billie Holiday. Like Holiday, O'Day combined the soaring freedom of jazz instrumentalist with the storytelling lyricism of a poet.
After making her solo debut in the mid-'40s she incorporated bop modernism into her vocals and recorded over a dozen of the best vocal LPs of the era.
During the late Forties, she recorded two dozen sides, mostly for small labels. The quality of these singles varies: O'Day was trying to achieve popular success without sacrificing her identity as a jazz singer. Among the more notable recordings from this period are "Hi Ho Trailus Boot Whip", "Key Largo", "How High the Moon", and "Malaguena". O'Day's drug problems began to surface late in 1947, when she and husband Carl Hoff were arrested for possession of marijuana and sentenced to 90 days in jail. Her career was back on the upswing in September of 1948, when she sang with Count Basie at the Royal Roost in New York City, resulting in five airchecks. What secured O'Day's place in the jazz pantheon, however, are the seventeen albums she recorded for Verve between 1956 and 1962.
Her first album, Anita O'Day Sings Jazz (reissued as The Lady Is a Tramp), was recorded in 1956 for the newly established Verve Records (it was also the label's first LP). The album was a critical success and further boosted her popularity. In October of 1952 O'Day was again arrested for possession of marijuana, but found not guilty. The following March, she was arrested for possession of heroin. The case dragged on for most of 1953; O'Day was finally sentenced to six months in jail. Not long after her release from jail on February 25, 1954, she began work on her second album, Songs by Anita O'Day (reissued as An Evening with Anita O'Day). She recorded steadily throughout the Fifties, accompanied by small combos and big bands. In person, O'Day was generally backed by a trio which included the drummer with whom she would work for the next 40 years, John Poole.
As a live performer O'Day also began performing in festivals and concerts with such musicians as Louis Armstrong, Oscar Peterson, Dinah Washington, George Shearing, Cal Tjader, and Thelonious Monk. She appeared in the documentary Jazz on a Summer's Day, filmed at the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival which increased her popularity. The following year O'Day made a cameo appearance in The Gene Krupa Story , singing "Memories of You". Late in 1959 she toured Europe with Benny Goodman; according to her autobiography, when Goodman's attempts to upstage her failed to diminish the audience's enthusiasm, he cut all but two of her numbers from the show.
After the Goodman fiasco, O'Day went back to touring as a solo artist. She recorded infrequently after the expiration of her Verve contract in 1962 and her career seemed over when she nearly died of a heroin overdose in 1968. After kicking the habit, she made a comeback at the 1970 Berlin Jazz Festival. She also appeared in the films Zig Zag (1970) and The Outfit (1974). She resumed making live and studio albums, many recorded in Japan, and several were released on her own label, Emily Records.
O'Day spoke candidly about her drug addiction in her 1981 memoir, High Times, Hard Times.
Her version of the standard, "Sing, Sing, Sing" was remixed by RSL and was included in the compilation album Verve Remixed 3 in 2005.
2006 saw her first album release in 13 years, entitled Indestructible!.
And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine
Anita O'Day Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
He would spend it on the girls,
Buy his mother gin and roses
For her poor old henna'd curls.
And when his wife said, "Hey now!
What did you get for me?"
He socked her in the chopper,
Such a sweet sweet guy was he!
And her tears flowed like wine,
Yes her tears flowed like wine,
She's a real sad tomato,
She's a busted valentine.
Knows her mama done told her
That her man is darned unkind.
How he loved the old race horses,
He would bet them every day.
One day he caught a winner
And the cabbage wasn't hay!
He indulged in fancy spending,
Ordered rings, cars and furs,
But alas, alack,
Like a stab in the back,
She found out they were not hers!
And her tears flowed like wine,
Yes her tears flowed like wine,
She's a real sad tomato,
She's a busted valentine.
Knows her mama done told her
That her man is darned unkind.
He got mixed up with a Maisie,
He got mixed up with a Flo,
So Flo shoved him in the river,
He'll not get mixed up no more!
His wife then draped herself in black
That showed her figure fine,
Then she cussed him out, the two-faced guy,
No insurance could she find.
And her tears flowed like wine,
Yes her tears flowed like wine,
She's a real sad tomato,
She's a busted valentine.
Knows her mama done told her
That her man is darned unkind.
The lyrics to "And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine" tell the story of a man who spends his money on gambling, women, and gifts for his mother, neglecting his wife. When his wife confronts him about her lack of gifts, he hits her. Throughout the song, we see the wife as a victim of her husband's behavior, and the lyrics emphasize her sadness and heartbreak. The chorus reflects this with the repetition of the phrase "her tears flowed like wine," which highlights the depth of her despair.
Despite the song's depressing storyline, it has a lively and upbeat jazz sound. The playful vocals of Anita O'Day and the classic big band sound of Stan Kenton's orchestra add a fun twist to a dark narrative.
Interestingly, the song was written by the unlikely duo of Stan Kenton, a bandleader and pianist, and Johnny Mercer, a popular lyricist. The collaboration was an instant success, drawing critical acclaim from the jazz community and becoming a hit on the charts. "And Her Tears Flowed Like Wine" is now considered a classic jazz standard and has been covered by countless artists over the years.
Line by Line Meaning
He would spend it on the ponies,
He frequently wasted his money on horse races,
He would spend it on the girls,
He would foolishly spend his money on other women,
Buy his mother gin and roses
He would buy gifts for his mother, like gin and roses for her hair,
For her poor old henna'd curls.
He would help his mother look good despite her old age and dyed hair,
And when his wife said, "Hey now!
When his wife asked him what he had bought her,
What did you get for me?"
She demanded to know what he had brought for her,
He socked her in the chopper,
He hit her in the face,
Such a sweet sweet guy was he!
Sarcastically describing him as an affectionate person,
And her tears flowed like wine,
The woman cried heavily,
Yes her tears flowed like wine,
Her crying continued like an endless flow of tears,
She's a real sad tomato,
She is resentful of how her life turned out,
She's a busted valentine.
She now feels heartbroken and wishes she did not get involved with him,
Knows her mama done told her
She remembers the advice her mother gave her,
That her man is darned unkind.
Her mother warned her about marrying a cruel man,
How he loved the old race horses,
He had a deep passion for gambling on horse racing,
He would bet them every day.
He would recklessly bet his money on horses continuously,
One day he caught a winner
He finally won a horse race,
And the cabbage wasn't hay!
He won a lot of money,
He indulged in fancy spending,
He foolishly spent his winnings on luxuries,
Ordered rings, cars and furs,
He spent his winnings on jewelry, cars, and clothes,
But alas, alack,
Unfortunately,
Like a stab in the back,
She was hurt and betrayed,
She found out they were not hers!
She discovered that he had used her money to buy gifts for other women,
He got mixed up with a Maisie,
He got involved with another woman named Maisie,
He got mixed up with a Flo,
He also got involved with a woman named Flo,
So Flo shoved him in the river,
Flo ended up killing him by pushing him into the river,
He'll not get mixed up no more!
He won't be making the same mistake again since he is dead,
His wife then draped herself in black
The man's wife wore black clothing to indicate her mourning,
That showed her figure fine,
She still found a way to dress attractively during the mourning period,
Then she cussed him out, the two-faced guy,
She finally cursed him for being a hypocrite and a liar,
No insurance could she find.
She could not find any insurance money to help her financially after his death,
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: CHARLES LAWRENCE, JOE GREENE, STAN KENTON
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@liberte5847
Outstanding sound!!! 👍
@thedealer777
I remember Lauren Bacall sang this in "The Big Sleep," with Humphrey Bogart.
@sashaqureshi6204
I wish they recorded a full version of the song with Lauren Bacall. The movie version is too short
@NancyDrewe
This was the song Bacall sang with Hoagy in The Big Sleep. ❤️
@ALLCAPS
Bukowski brought me here.
@Taofik953
My man
@kongzilla2270
let's start a gang!
@rinaropictures
I like that name tag
@edgonzalesofficial7686
That is a great story. The boss's girlfriend...him getting sapped while taking a leak and then just hanging out and drinking till the place closed up. Classic shit. Lauren Bacall singing it in the big sleep was pretty great too
@Nines_Rodriguez
This epicness made me re-install BIOSHOCK. Another epicness.